Reading List – History

PR! A Social History of Spin, by Stuart Ewen. Ewen, an historian of advertising and Duncombe’s mentor, looks at how story, spectacle, and performance was used by corporations and marketers, as well as progressives, in the early 20th centrury. We can learn from them all.

Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics by Frederic Spots. A sobering reminder that arguably the most sucessful artistic activists of the 20th Centrury were the Nazis. Arts and activism is a powerful combination, and ethics are always important.